Small farms peppered the side of the road leading to the forest. Four messengers and their mounts galloped towards the thick forest. This part of the forest was dangerous; back in the village of Norfolk Dustin had heard rumours of thieves hiding just inside the edge of the forest. It’s a good thing they travelled in pairs, the road was not much wider.
Staying in Norfolk gave them all a chance to hear rumours from the people in the village about the forest between Norfolk and Pespid. Some were saying that there’s a band or two of travelling thieves, a few rabid packs of wolves and maybe lions and tigers. Dustin thought that the part about lions and tigers was probably pure speculation as there was not much travel between villages. Thieves and rabid pack wolves almost definitely will cross their path on the way to Pespid.
Draven had told him about his last trip between Norfolk and Pespid. He had to travel with two apprentices just to even the odds. Every town had apprentices, they were not hard to find. With the celebrity like status of a Messenger, who would not want to be one. But on Draven’s last trip, he had almost lost one of his apprentices to a rabid pack of wolves. The road ahead was definitely hard.
As the four entered the forest, they could hear a multitude of creatures roaming the forest. The road was large enough to ride two abreast, Marcus and Draven led while Dustin and Galen were behind. Ahead there would be another clearing, made by previous Messengers, these kinds of clearings were intended for one night stays as they travelled between villages. The first clearing on the journey was only an hour ride through the forest so no one was pushing the horses. The second clearing would take a full day to get to. At least they would not have to push the horses too hard.
“Galen, you’ve travelled this road before,” Dustin spoke up. “Have you seen any bands of thieves on this road before?”
“There have been a couple of random packs of thieves in this forest” Galen answered. “You certainly do not want to take this road alone. It’s not just the thieves that give you a problem in this forest, you will have to fend off some wild animals as well. The boars are pretty large in this forest as well.”
And with that last sentence, a hush fell over the forest. Something large was near. The hair on the back of Dustin’s neck began to stand up. Only the sound of hooves trampling the few blades of grass could be heard as they moved forward. They could not turn back now, they would have to face whatever was a head.
A loud grunt came from the left side of the forest. All pulled the reigns on their horses and stopped. The horses were well trained, they didn’t make a sound. In the brush they heard a branch break, and heavy foot steps. Before they could blink an over sized boar measuring four feet at the shoulder crashed through the trees and blocked their path. All four drew their weapons.
The boar snorted and mucus flew from its snout. Scraping its hoof on the ground it put its head down and charged. Draven and Marcus reacted fast, Marcus missed the boar as it charged past, but Draven’s sword made purchase in the soft unprotected belly on the boars left flank. The boar squealed in protest and stopped after butting Dustin’s horse, it was surrounded. Four Messengers dispatched the boar quickly, with no major injuries to the four, the boars life was ended right in the middle of the road.
They dragged the carcass of the boar with them to the clearing. Their supplies would last another day as the boar would make a good meal for the night. Afterwards the smoked left over pieces of the boar would join their supplies. The road to Pespid was long and they would need some replenishment before the last leg of the journey.
Come back next week for Part 2 of "Chapter Three: The Outer Circle"
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